Resource commission tries to preserve native plants

Many of Iowa’s native plants that flourished here a century ago havevanished with the progress of civilization, but a few prairie plants remain.The Iowa Natural Resource Commission meets tomorrow to discuss doing aninventory on four plants considered threatened by the federal government.Mike Carrier, a division administrator at the Iowa Department of NaturalResources, says the plants in question are: Mead’s milkweed, eastern prairiefringed orchid, western prairie fringed orchid and prairie bush clover.Carrier says the inventory of prairie plants is very important to the D-N-R.While they once practically covered the state, Carrier says none of theseplants can be found growing along roadsides or in our yards or neighborhoodforests. He says they are now extremely rare and are isolated to only a fewareas of the state.The plants are labeled as “threatened” now, which is one step away from being”endangered.” Carrier hopes the inventory will find the rare plants havebeen able to survive and thrive in protected areas of the state.